From The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's editorial page today, this gem:
In my new almost daily commute home from Waukesha to Wauwatosa on I-94, everything goes fine until I get close to Highway 100. That's where the congestion from the bottleneck otherwise known as the Zoo Interchange starts. Some speed up while others slow down, watching for open spaces to slip into, everyone getting in each other's way. It's the state's busiest interchange, but Gov. Jim Doyle doesn't think reconstructing it deserves a higher priority. Maybe he should try driving it more often.
- By Ernst-Ulrich Franzen, associate editorial page editor / suburbs
This comes from a regular feature in the paper called "quick hits," so Mr. Franzen doesn't have a lot of space to clarify his position. However, it seems as though he has in mind some manner of improvement in his life's lot as a result of some more highway work.
Completely unmentioned here is the likelihood that Mr. Franzen is utterly alone in his car, surrounded by others who drive alone as well. If he is carpooling, hats off to him.
Mr. Franzen's complaint is elegantly indicative of the "free goods" concept that economists cite when explaining things like traffic congestion. Items such as parking, highway maintenance, and even gas are priced so low as to make an automobile commute attractive to most Americans ($3 a gallon has done nothing to dissuade us). Mr. Franzen is now facing an actual inconvenience - - a "non-free good" in that a slow-down at the Zoo Interchange is aggravating him. "Everyone getting in each other's way" !
Let us hope that more and more people get aggravated enough to see the wisdom in pursuing a commuter rail line that would eliminate Mr. Franzen's aggravation. Because it has been made clear over and over that the more asphalt you lay down, the more cars will come to fill it up (this is called latent demand). As traffic engineers say: "Trying to cure traffic congestion by adding more capacity is like trying to cure obesity by loosening your belt."
Link: JS Online:Quick Hits.
Comments